Intersection improvement to begin next month

When the school bell rings, road construction will be right around the corner.

This year, school starts on Aug. 21 one day after construction on the intersection of U.S. Highway 24-40 and Kansas Highway 16 is slated to begin.

Tonganoxie school superintendent Richard Erickson said school buses that normally travel through the intersection likely will be rerouted.

"I would guess that we'll have to make some pretty significant changes this first semester in rerouting," Erickson said.

The construction is expected to take 50 working days, said John Swihart, public involvement liaison for District 1 of the Kansas Department of Transportation.

The work will include widening intersection and installation of new stoplights.

On Monday, the city council agreed to proceed with engineering work on Fourth Street to connect the downtown project and this intersection. Plans call for widening Fourth Street. B&G Engineers, Lawrence, will handle the engineering for $39,600.

Meadows Construction, which submitted the low bid of $724,642 for the intersection upgrade, has been awarded the contract for the work, Swihart said.

As that intersection will likely narrow or close during construction, the intersection of Evans Road and County Road 25 will open in late August. The intersection has been closed for construction since early June.

Dan King, owner of King's Construction Company, Oskaloosa, said his crews are still doing earthwork.

"We should be done with that in a week or week and a half," King said. "We'll be building the fence back soon and after that putting gravel down and getting ready for asphalt."

The intersection will be widened on the east and west with left-turn lanes installed. Shoulders will be widened on the north and south and the hill to the east will be cut down.